Flight
by Rainy-Pines
Summary: Dragon Rider AU. Sapphire must teach Ruby about the dangers of being a Dragon Rider, while constantly being on the move to avoid a Clan of Riders that call themselves the Diamonds, led by a power-hungry being who goes by the name of Yellow Diamond.


**Ok! So! Here it is! This thing has been my absolute baby for a while now, so I hope you enjoy it! In reality, I believe this may actually belong in Crossovers with the Inheritance Cycle, but I'm changing up a lot of things. So yeah, I have my doubts about putting it in there.**

 **Credit to:**

 **Steven Universe (Rebecca Sugar)**

 **The Inheritance Cycle (Christopher Paolini)**

 **www1. flightrising .com + the Flight Rising Wiki [Which is where I got a big chunk of my info]**

* * *

 _"Sapphire,"_ a soft, smooth voice called out. _"Someone's coming."_

A slender, elegantly dressed woman stood abruptly, her long white-blonde hair catching the dappled sunlight of the forest. _"Does she seem threatening?"_

The voice took a moment to respond. _"No. She does not seem to mean any harm. But..."_

Sapphire waited a moment, to let the voice gather it's thoughts. The sun glinted off the navy ribbon that held her long-sleeved shirt down onto her close-fitting Rider's pants.

 _"Whoever it is has an egg."_

 _"Are you certain?"_ Sh _e_ asked.

 _"I would not have told you if I was not completely certain."_

 _"Of course. My Apologies, Ahti. Could you, perhaps, stay in the sky? I do not wish to frighten them."_

There was a chuckle. _"I don't bite_ that _hard."_

 _"Either way, I do not want you scaring our guest. You could go hunting, if you wish; we're running low on elk meat."_ Sapphire suggested, wanting to give her something to do.

 _"What if they try to hurt you?"_

 _"You said they were friendly. Besides, I can hold my own."_ The woman said with confidence.

 _"The being does look rather weak - maybe it's a human. You have nearly one hundred and twenty seconds until she arrives. Well... With that being said, I'm off. I heard a fairly large bull a couple miles to the east, perhaps I shall try there. It may have already moved on, though."_

 _"Best of luck."_ Their connection went silent, leaving Sapphire alone with her horse, Enyo. Sapphire walked over to the palomino mare, stroking her neck and adjusting her saddle bags. She turned around, watching the forest. She could definitely sense the being now, the strong heat that only a being with a beating heart could generate, overpowering the lighter forces of the forest growth.

Sapphire made a small clicking noise with her tongue, and walked farther into the brush. Her mare followed her, stopping when Sapphire did. She repeated the clicking sound, the command for "walk on" and "stop," and headed back to the small clearing they had been camped in. The being was, indeed, human. It was a female, and she did, indeed, carry a large, red, egg in her left hand. Sapphire saw how she was more focused on the egg than her surroundings, almost tripping over a loose tree root.

Sapphire padded over to her, agile movements making her more cat-like than anything. The human didn't notice until she nearly bumped into Sapphire. She looked up at her, leaping back.

"HEY! I - What's the big deal?!" she yelled. She had been tracing the veins in the big stone she had found, and hadn't heard anyone nearby. She looked at the way the person before her held herself, the way her hair that framed her face glistened in the sun, the soft curves of her body, the white gloves that fit her hands perfectly, the deep, pure blue in her eyes... She didn't seem human. "WHO ARE YOU!" She tightened her hold on the rock.

The beautiful girl remained where she was, her face unreadable, her eyes giving away nothing. "Where did you get that?" she asked her, with a glance at the rock.

She took a few more steps back. "You want to take it too!" She wrapped her arms protectively over the rock. It must've been worth quite a lot. Everyone has tried to take it or to bribe her into selling the drop-shaped red rock to them. "Why does everyone want it?!"She asked it more to herself than the girl in front of her, but she received an answer all the same.

"You don't know what it is..." She looked her up and down, then circled. But the girl with the rock made sure she never left her back exposed. "But I can still see it."

She didn't want to answer, but her curiousity got the best of her. "I... You know what it is?"

She nodded, but didn't provide an explanation. The blonde stopped her circling. "May I see it? I shan't harm it." After a second's thought, she added, "Nor shall I steal it."

There was something so calming about her voice... Something that made her decide to trust her. "You'd better not be lying..." she growled threateningly, reluctantly holding out the black-veined stone.

She took it gently, glancing at the short human. "You're bark is worse than your bite," she mused. "Have you held it to the light yet?" She turned her gaze to the short human yet again.

"I... No. Is that... Important?"

"Mhm..." Taking the red and black stone in her hand with her thin fingers, she found a strong ray of sunlight. She held it up to the light.

The human's breath caught in her throat. There was a shadow in the rock - no, wait, not a rock... An egg? "So that's why everyone wanted it," she whispered quietly to herself.

"Yes... That is why they wanted it." The girl glanced back at her, with her sharp, deep blue eyes. Then back at the egg, still in the sun, and smiled. "A Nocturne..."

"What's a... Nocturne?"

"A rare breed of dragon." She lowered the egg from the light, returning it.

She took it back, staring at it. After a minutes silence, she said, "I'm - uh- Ruby, by the way."

She looked back at Ruby, a small smile on her face. "Nice to meet you, Ruby. I'm Sapphire."

"So, you, uh... Have a dragon, too?"

"Yes. She's the one who saw you coming. She's out hunting right now. Although she hasn't found anything as of yet." Sapphire said, her smile going back into an unreadable expression.

"When will mine hatch?" Ruby asked, looking back at the egg in her hands. She wasn't so sure she wanted to keep it now, but yet she could never think of letting it go.

"At the moment? Maybe a week. But I can get Ahti to blow some fire on it to speed it up." Sapphire glanced at Ruby. "The dragon will match your eyes well," she said with a nod towards the egg.

Years of bullying rose up from within her. "It's not my fault my eyes are -"

"I was complimenting you." Her voice cut through hers, smooth as butter and cool as ice. Suddenly, Sapphire told Ruby she should move over into the brush a little ways back.

"Why?"

"Now, please. I do not wish to have you crushed." Sapphire had already moved into the brush, large sword ferns covering the lower half of her legs.

Ruby moved back into the brush, clutching her egg tightly. What was going to crush he-

The sun disappeared from their secluded spot for a moment. Then a large, agile looking dragon landed with the ease that a hawk posses landing on a tree branch. It's beautiful white scales and pale blue fur along it's spine and tail shone in the light. It's ears flicked back towards Ruby, then looked directly at Sapphire.

The dragon let out a type of purring noise as it turned it's head to look at Ruby. _"Hello, little one."_

Ruby leapt back, almost falling over. Sapphire was there in an instant. "Easy, there... Don't want that egg to crack..." She said, her voice free of irritation and frustration. She stood next to Ruby. "This is Ahti," she gestured to the white scaled dragon.

The Imperial Dragon dipped her head. Ruby took it as a sign of respect. "I - uh... I..." Ruby stuttered, uncertain, yet again, of what to do.

The dragon lifted it's well-shaped head. _"I am sorry if I frightened you. I am told that you have a Nocturne Dragon. Is that correct?"_

"I - uhm," Ruby swallowed, glancing at Sapphire. She wasn't used to having dragons talk to her in her head. Especially since it didn't sound _anything_ like she imagined. The dragon's voice was almost like Sapphires - calm and smooth, except it lacked the frosty quality Sapphire's had. "Yes."

 _"Do you want me to heat it up?"_ She asked Ruby, flicking her long, lion-like tail over her neck so that it rested in front of her wings.

"Erm... Yes, please. If it isn't a lot of trouble." Ruby felt her voice waver a little in the middle, but ignored it.

Sapphire held out a glove-covered hand. "If I may?"

Ruby placed the red Nocturne egg in her hand, watching as she approached her dragon. The dragon lowered her head, allowing Sapphire to lay a hand in it's short, silky mane. Sapphire knelt to the ground, and tucked her long hair into her shirt. Then she raised the egg into the air, holding on with both hands. Her sleeves slipped down her arms, and Ruby couldn't help but notice that her white gloves went all the way to her elbows.

Ahti collected herself, then flames erupted from her jaws. Ruby took a couple steps back as the heat smashed into her. Ruby stared at Sapphire's hands. They were both completely engulfed in flames, but she didn't seem to be in any pain. She had her gaze trained on the ground, eyes barely open, that calm, unreadable expression never wavering. It was then that Ruby noticed her ears. With her hair swept back into her shirt, Ruby could see the pointed ear tips.

Was that how she was so stealthy, so unreadable and calm? So quiet and beautiful? Because she was an elf? The sudden heat stopped, leaving her feeling rather cold. Ruby watched as Sapphire ran a hand down her dragon's graceful neck before heading towards Ruby and holding out her Nocturne-to-be. Ruby touched it to make sure it wasn't hot. To her surprise, it was mildly warm. The red around the black veins seemed to almost glow. Then she remembered Sapphire's hands.

After taking the warm egg in hand, she looked to Sapphire. "How are your hands ok? I mean... Why weren't you burned?"

Sapphire gave another small smile and held up a hand. "My gloves absorb the dragon fire."

"Oh."

Sapphire swept her hair out of her shirt, flipping it on to her shoulder. "You should keep it with you at all times. You need to be the first one it touches, not me," she explained.

"Why not you?" Ruby asked her, tilting her head.

"I'll die."

Ruby went silent. She really shouldn't ask this, but she couldn't help her curiosity. "Why?"

Sapphire looked at her, then raised a thin eyebrow. "Ahti will have no choice but to turn on me." Sapphire caught the fearful look Ruby had. "She would not want to, but is her instinct. My spiritual bond with her would break as soon as a different dragon leaves it's mark on me, so she would kill me, therefore killing herself and the other dragon."

Ruby stared at her. "Marks?" she asked.

Sapphire nodded, then took off her right glove. Ruby stared at the tendrils of varying shades blue that intricately wove themselves halfway up her forearm. Sapphire showed Ruby her palm. There was a brilliant blue spiral that branched off into many softer toned blue tendrils that curled around her fingers and up her arm. "See?" she said softly, a hint of emotion in her voice.

It almost sounded like... Warmth? The chilly tone in her voice had, in fact, disappeared.

* * *

 **See why this isn't in Crossovers now? A lot of it is just my imagination and whatnot, with the help of music mixes and information from the Flight Rising Wiki with a couple of similarities between the Inheritance Cycle. To be honest, I've already started picking out the types of dragon breeds everyone else will have (which is super fun because I'm trying to match up their personalities and battle tactics). I will make some changes to breed size, though, just because the dragons will be ridden. I'm actually not sure how big a Nocturne dragon is, but I'm just going to say that it's around the same size as the Guardian dragon. All dragon breeds smaller than, say, a Snapper are around the same size as a Guardian dragon. This will just make it a little easier for me when choosing dragon breeds, since a lot aren't bigger than a human.**

 **As a side note, Imperial dragons have antlers. And yes, they have fur and lion-like tails. They have huge, fringed leather wings and short, lanky legs.**

 **PS: I haven't forgotten about Enyo, I swear. :'D**

 **Yup, a ton of thought has gone into this. In case you haven't picked up on that. xD**

 **Please leave a review! I want to know if this story is worth continuing. c:**

 **Catch ya later, my rain drops~**


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